SOC Turnover and Lime-CO₂ Evolution during Liming of an Acid Andisol and Ultisol

Wilfredo A. Dumale Jr.^1,2*, Tsuyoshi Miyazaki², Kenta Hirai², Taku Nishimura²

¹Department of Plant Science, Nueva Vizcaya State University, Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines.
²Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan..

DOI: 10.4236/ojss.2011.12007                

Abstract

Agricultural liming contributes significantly to atmospheric CO₂ emission from soils but data on magnitude of lime- contributed CO₂ in a wide range of acid soils are still few. Data on lime-contributed CO₂ and SOC turnover for global acid soils are needed to estimate the potential contribution of agricultural liming to atmospheric CO₂. Using Ca¹³CO₃ (¹³C 99%) as lime and tracer, here we separated lime-contributed and SOC-originated CO₂ evolution in an acidic Kuroboku Andisol from Tanashi, Tokyo Prefecture (35°44′ N, 139°32′ E) and Kunigami Mahji Ultisol of Nakijin, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan (26°38′ N, 127°58′ E). On the average, lime-CO₂ was 76.84% (Kuroboku Andisol) and 66.36% (Kunigami Mahji Ultisol) of overall CO₂ emission after 36 days. There was increased SOC turnover in all limed soils, confirming priming effect (PE) of liming. The calculated PE of lime (Kuroboku Andisol, 51.97% - 114.95%; Kunigami Mahji Ultisol, 10.13% - 35.61%) was entirely 12C turnover of stable soil organic carbon (SOC) since SMBC, a labile SOC pool, was suppressed by liming in our experiment. Our results confirmed that mineralization of lime-carbonates is the major source of CO₂ emission from acid soils during agricultural liming. Liming can influence the size of CO₂ evolution from agricultural ecosystems considering global extent of acid soils and current volume of lime utilization. We propose the inclusion of liming in simulating carbon dynamics in agricultural ecosystems.

Keywords

Agricultural Liming, Soil Organic Carbon, SOC Turnover, Andisol, Ultisol

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	J. Fisher, A. Diggle and B. Bowden, “Quantifying the Acid Balance for Broad-Acre Agricultural Systems,” Handbook of Soil Acidity, CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida, 2003, pp. 117-133.
[2]	K. R. Helyar and W. M. Porter, “Soil acidification, its measurement and the processes involved,” Soil Acidity and Plant Growth, Elsevier, New York, 1989, pp. 61-101.
[3]	G. P. Robertson, E. A. Paul and R. R. Harwood, “Green- House Gases in Intensive Agriculture: Contributions of Individual Gases to the Radiative Forcing of the Atmosphere,” Science, Vol. 289, No. 5486, 2001, pp. 1922-1925. doi:10.1126/science.289.5486.1922
[4]	J. A. Baldock, M. Aoyama, J. M. Oades, “Susanto and C. D. Grant, “Structural Amelioration of a South Australian Red-Brown Earth Using Calcium and Organic Amendments,” Australian Journal of Soil Research, Vol. 32, No. 3, 1994, pp. 571-594. doi:10.1071/SR9940571
[5]	IPCC, “IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories: Agriculture, Forestry and other Land Use,” Vol. 4, IPCC/OECD/IEA, Japan, 2006.
[6]	S. K. Hamilton, A. L. Kurzman, C. Arango, L. Jin and G. P. Robertson, “Evidence for Carbon Sequestration by Ag- ricultural Liming,” Global Biogeochemical Cycles, Vol. 21, 2007, GB2021. doi:10.1029/2006GB002738
[7]	T. O. West and A. C. McBride, “The Contribution of Agricultural Lime to Carbon Dioxide Emissions in the United States: Dissolution, Transport, and Net Emissions,” Agricultural Ecosystems and Environment, Vol. 108, No. 2, 2005, pp. 145-154. doi:10.1016/j.agee.2005.01.002
[8]	W. Stumm and J. Morgan, “Aquatic Chemistry: Chemical Equilibria and Rates in Natural Waters,” 3rd Edition, John Wiley & Sons Ltd., Hoboken, New Jersey, 1996.
[9]	L. N. Plummer, D. L. Parkhurst and T. M. Wigley, “Critical Review of the Kinetics of Calcite Dissolution and Precipitation,” In: Chemical Modeling of Aqueous Sys- tems, American Chemical Society, Washington, D.C., 1979, pp. 537-573.
[10]	P. J. Martikainen, “Microbial Processes in Boreal Forest Soils as Affected by Forest Management Practices and Atmospheric Stress. In: G. Stotzky and J. M. Bollag, Eds., Soil Biochemistry,” Marcel and Dekker, Inc., New York, 1996, pp. 195-232.
[11]	A. Chiba and H. Shinke, “Estimation of Lime Requirement of Soil with Calcium Carbonate and Aeration Method,” Japanese Journal of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, Vol. 48, No. 7-8, 1997, pp. 237-242.
[12]	W. A. J. Dumale, T. Miyazaki, T. Nishimura and K. Seki, “CO2 Evolution and Short-Term Carbon Turnover in Stable Soil Organic Carbon from Soils Applied with Fresh Organic Matter,” Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 36, 2009, p. 6. doi:10.1029/2008GL036436
[13]	E. D. Vance, P. C. Brookes and D. S. Jenkinson, “An Extraction Method for Measuring Soil Microbial Biomass C,” Soil Biology & Biochemistry, Vol. 19, No. 6, 1987, pp. 703-707. doi:10.1016/0038-0717(87)90052-6
[14]	J. Wu, R. G. Joergensen, B. Pommerening, R. Chaussod and P. C. Brookes, “Measurement of Soil Microbial BioMass C by Fumigation-Extraction—an Automated Procedure,” Soil Biology & Biochemistry, Vol. 22, No. 8, 1990, pp. 1167-1169. doi:10.1016/0038-0717(90)90046-3
[15]	C. Biasi, S. E. Lind, N. M. Pekkarinen, J. T. Huttunen, N. J. Shurpali, N. P. Hyv?nen, M. E. Repo and P. J. Martikainen, “Direct Experimental Evidence for the Contribution of Lime to CO2 Release from Managed Peat Soil,” Soil Biology & Biochemistry, Vol. 40, No. 10, 2008, pp. 2660- 2669. doi:10.1016/j.soilbio.2008.07.011
[16]	L. K. Mann, “Changes in Soil Carbon Storage after Cultivation,” Soil Science, Vol. 142, 1986, pp. 279-288. doi:10.1097/00010694-198611000-00006
[17]	Y. Kuzyakov, J. K. Friedel and K. Stahr, “Review of Mechanisms and Quantification of Priming Effects,” Soil Biology & Biochemistry, Vol. 32, No. 11-12, 2000, pp. 1485-1498. doi:10.1016/S0038-0717(00)00084-5
[18]	L. A. Sherrod, G. A. Peterson, D. G. Westfall and L. R. Ahuja, “Soil Organic Carbon after 12 Years in No-Till Dryland Agroecosystems,” Soil Science Society of America Journal, Vol. 69, No. 5, 2005, pp. 1600-1608. doi:10.2136/sssaj2003.0266
[19]	V. Acosta-Martinez and M. A. Tabatabai, “Enzyme Activities in a Limed Agricultural Soil,” Biology and Fertility of Soils, Vol. 31, No. 1, 2000, pp. 85-91. doi:10.1007/s003740050628